Troubleman
by sirpepperston
Summary: Felix is one of the greatest witches of his time. Piers doesn't even know what magic really is. The two of them need to get to Lemuria for their separate reasons, but it's going to take some work. Some pretty painful work.
1. Chapter 1

Fear and desperation was something that became more common to Piers ever since he left home. First, they met when the open sea grew violent and harsh with storms and the waves bore threats of tearing Piers's ship apart. After that was when an earthquake triggered a tsunami, which thankfully hadn't killed the sailor or badly hurt his ship. Then there was when soldiers barged into his ship and accused him of being a pirate, so he fought them with all of what he thought at the time was bravery. That was what landed him right in jail.

One of the more notable experiences he had, however, was when he decided that spending a month as a falsely accused criminal was enough and that he would escape well into the night. The defenses of the jailhouse were little to none, and its carpenters didn't realize that the windows in the cells should have been higher than a couple of feet.

Escaping was easy. Running was hard.

Piers had been sprinting for what he could only assume were lifetimes, and the sun had already risen when he could go no more. Forest surrounded him on all sides, and the tall trees provided much needed shade. If Piers had taken the time to find the things confisticated by guards when he was first imprisoned, he would have had more than just his clothes and the blisters forming on his feet.

The familiarity of fear and desperation should have given the foreigner an advantage when the growls from the forest were revealed to be growls from a wolf. His lack of weapons were a disadvantage, but his lack of energy was even worse. The last of the world around him faded when his eyes rolled up to the sky and the tranquility of the life draining from him finally settled in.

The aches in his bones were the first senses of his to wake. Next was a ghost of the headache Piers should have had, along with the faint tingle of his torn skin. Light seeped through his eyelids and warmth hugged him gently from all sides.

Piers wanted to expect that when he opened his eyes he would see the walls of his room back home around him, but no god was ever kind to him. Instead, he saw the dark panels of wood forming the walls and a sloping ceiling above him, along with the floor he had been sleeping on since whenever it was that he passed out. A few feet away from him was a dying fire in what was presumably once a grand fireplace, lined with old wooden carvings of the life in the forest, most notably a wolf, which reminded Piers of why he was on that wooden floor in the first place.

He rolled over on his side to see if anyone else was in the cabin, and noticed that he was naked and wrapped in soft furs instead of the old clothes he wore. Whoever's sympathetic hands he was in, Piers owed them a thousand thanks for saving his life.

"Hello?" he whispered hoarsely. No doubt his body had been maimed so badly that talking would have hurt him, no matter how much it didn't seem to hurt. Why didn't his wounds hurt as much as they should have?

Piers's quiet question echoed in his ears instead of the reply of someone else, bouncing off of the walls and stabbing back into him. His bright yellow eyes took in as much information as the dimly lit cabin allowed, to which Piers concluded that he was alone. He rolled on to his back and stared at the ceiling, wondering if that was what death was or if he really was saved.

The door of the cabin creaked open and heavy feet moved across the floor, dragging something that smelled of the forest outside. Light seeped in through the open door, revealing to Piers a sliver of the being that arrived. It wore suntanned skins and feathers, and a mask of some kind. It was tall, however that may have been Piers's perspective from the floor.

The sailor held his breath to try and hide himself from the creature, then settled with steadying it to seem like he was asleep. The being made no indication of noticing the change in Piers's breath, and instead walked around the cabin, searching through shelves and cabinets. Once it had everything it needed, it placed its supplies near Piers's feet. The entire time that Piers should have had his eyes closed to sell the idea that he was asleep he had been watching the owner of the house intently. He hadn't noticed how wide open his eyes were until the creature turned to look him in the eyes through the slits in its mask where darkness stood as a substitute for its own.

It stood up and walked to the fireplace and revealed two dark hands from the large deerskin cloak it wore and threw a log into the nearly dead fire. It turned slowly, shoulders low and heavy, and returned to Piers. The hands appeared again, and the closeness allowed Piers to see that the hands were caked in mud and dirt from the forest. The hands were slender beneath the earthy gloves and moved with aged precision.

The masked creature dipped one of its hands into a jar from the shelves and from it had a handful of a clear balm. The other hand reached beneath the furs and pulled out Piers's leg, wrapped in blood-soaked bandages and sticking to the quickly healing scabs. The being, which Piers decided to be the reigning God of the forest, began to unwrap him and Piers saw just how torn his leg was. Mangled skin hung off of shredded muscle, exposing bone in some places.

The God rubbed balm onto Piers's leg, massaging what still hung where Mother Gaia intended them to, and used an old stained cloth to clear some of the blood away. None of it hurt, which initially scared Piers because he was afraid he had lost feeling in his body, but then he concluded that it must have been the God's doing. Being at his mercy both soothed the young sailor and coldly pierced him to the deepest pits of his stomach, which still seemed to be in the right place.

The God wrapped Piers's leg in clean bandages and moved to his torso to get at the gashes there, which Piers knew was a mess because he could still feel a dull pain on his sides. He rolled his eyes up to the sloping wood ceiling and let the God do his work.

"Where am I?" Piers asked after a moment passed of staring upwards.

"Osenia." The God's voice was deep and soft, much like the tranquil days in the forest that Piers would never know.

"Osenia? This is a town, then?"

"No. It's a continent." His voice held no emotion, and definitely no surprise at Piers's lack of knowing where he was. "You came from Madra, did you?"

"That's the town I was in, right? To the west?" Piers heard the name during his excuse for a court hearing, something about committing injustices towards the "sacred town of Madra", and he knew he had ran east because of how brightly the sun greeted him once morning rose.

"Yes. You're the pirate they caught?" Apparently news spread to those in the forests, too.

"I was falsely accused of being a pirate. They knew I wasn't one, too, but they still held me there." Piers was still bitter about that whole ordeal. The mayor himself admitted that they couldn't find the actual pirate who stole from them, but his excuse was that the people "needed something to comfort them", whatever that meant. What it didn't mean was imprisoning someone who was clearly innocent.

The forest God chuckled, flipped Piers gently onto his back, and said, "That sounds about right. The mayor of Madra is quick to do whatever he needs to look good in front of his people, even if he knows it isn't the right thing."

The absurdity of his situation settled into Piers at around that point. There he was, conversing with a God he had no business knowing about how he had been jailed, all while the God tended to his wounds. At least he would have interesting stories for when he got back home.

"So, Lemurian," the God said with more interest. "Tell me about this symbol on your back shoulder."

"Ah, what? How do you… you know what that is?" And that was where Piers remembered that Gods were terrifying creatures that had no time for domestic conversations. This one had a goal, and for some reason Lemuria was part of it.

"Are you kidding? Every witch in Weyard knows about that ancient magic, of course I know about it." Oh. So not a God.

"There's no… ancient magic in Lemuria. Witches don't live there, they never have."

The witch stopped to place a dirty, bloody hand on his chin and jeered, "How old do your people live?"

"About 280. Why?"

"People here live to 70. If they're lucky." He put his supplies back into their respective jars and stood to put them back on their shelves.

"70? That's _it_?" No wonder his family begged him not to go to the Outside, dying was too easy for these people.

"Fortunately, yes," The witch set the last of his jars down and heavily landed in a large chair that matched his deerskin coat and sighed inwardly. "We don't have the same magic you do. Apparently there's a theory going round that your air is infused with that healing water everyone wants."

"What water?" Why was he asking? It wasn't like Piers needed any of it if he lived longer than the people on the Outside. But the magic, the witches, and the witch in front of him had grabbed the sailor by the heart and tricked him into being interested. A witch's hut was a dangerous place, indeed.

"The healing water," the unnamed witch began, delighted with the chance to talk at someone about something so elusive, "is supposedly hidden in the palace of King Hydros, not even spoken about to his own people. It's said to grant immortality to those who frequently drink it, but the magic of Lemuria stops all travelers from getting there and stealing it." A faint glow seeped out of the slices in his mask in his excitement.

Piers couldn't believe a word of what that witch was saying, even if it seemed slightly possible. "So how does anyone know about it if no one in Lemuria knows?"

This made the witch sit even taller, and Piers could hear the grin in his voice when he said, "Many years ago a man was aided by the last Venus Guardian to break into the ancient city. The Guardian had been powerful enough to bypass the magic and the man had been able to steal some water for himself and the witch, but once they left Lemuria the man pushed the Guardian over their ship to drown and he kept both bottles of healing water for himself. People still believe him to be alive to this day."

Piers rolled back over to get a better look at the excited man. "So this is entirely based on a story? Witches believe this?"

"Oh, it's no story. It's a legend among witches. Entire covens devote their studies to finding ways into Lemuria, much like I have."

A sharp breath stabbed through Piers at that statement. "You've studied how to break into Lemuria?"

"Who wouldn't? The only reason why you're still alive right now is because I want to study that hex symbol on your back that gave you away." The ease with which the once believed generous witch said those words sent chills down Piers's aching spine. "I haven't used any of my magic on you yet because we still have to settle the deal."

"W-what deal?"

A hand went back to the witch's chin, "You poor Lemurian boy. Don't you know that witches, even I, only work on deals? I may be the current Venus Guardian but I'm still a regular witch at my core. I'm still bound to the same rules of exchange this universe lives on. So, will you allow me to use you to get into Lemuria in exchange for me to keep you alive? Or will I have to let that wolf finish the job?"

No wonder he was so obviously powerful. No wonder Piers was still torn apart. No wonder those eyes had glowed so brightly. But he had no choice, no matter how many children's stories told him not to trust those fictional witches. There, on the floor of Weyard's Great and Powerful Venus Guardian's cabin was where Piers had to decide between treason and death.

His bones ached. Pain was settling back into his skin. Fear and desperation soaked in the pits of his stomach. And he inhaled a painful breath to answer the witch's question.

"Yes. I'll accept your deal."


	2. Chapter 2

Three days later Piers spent an early morning gathering herbs in the forest for the Grand Witch. His legs were healing nicely, especially since the witch was using his magic on him. Healing was one of his best skills, he said on the second day Piers stayed in the cabin, and it showed. The sailor's bones still creaked and the skin would bleed, but no infection had found a home and the pain was still bearable. Piers was almost content with the idea that he could help the witch heal his legs and his back.

With a last glance at the journal full of notes and drawings about herbs and berries, Piers began to make his way back to the witch's hut with a full basket. Wind blew from the north, sending a shiver up the foreigner's spine, reminding him that he wasn't used to the colder temperatures that blew through the continent. He pulled his borrowed sweater closer to himself and hurried back to his new home.

Piers entered quietly and saw the witch at one of his desks, writing something fervently into one of the many open journals nearby and staring at a book. Jars with strange symbols on them littered the floor near him, along with pages torn from notebooks that featured similar symbols. The wall above the desk had papers pinned all over it with drawings and symbols, some of which Piers could make out to be strings of broken Lemurian language.

He set the basket of herbs down near the desk and quickly pulled back, still reluctant to get near the witch, no matter how frequently they had to touch. Piers was terrified of the witch, with his immense power and costume of decayed wood and skin, coupled with the fact that his home added to the cluttered mystery that surrounded him.

The witch turned quickly to Piers, looking suddenly aware of his presence, and handed him a steaming cup adorned with painted images of flowers.

"Drink," he said, and turned back to his work.

Piers stared down at the dark liquid in the cup and watched the flower petals in it dance near the bottom. The sweet smell it emitted enticed Piers to drink, just take a sip, but he said before he did so, "What is this for? This isn't the usual anesthetic you use."

Without looking up, the Venus witch stated, "It's a substitute. This is the first real test I can do on your hex and what you usually drink is infused with my magic. I can't have that interfere with what I'm going to be doing. Wouldn't want something to go wrong and end up killing you." He paused. Breathed in. "Although I'm sure I could use that pretty blue hair of yours if you did die. Would make a nice tribute for the gods." And there was another reason why Piers was so afraid of the witch.

Without another word, Piers drank the mixture of bark and honey and unbuttoned the plain white shirt the witch had lent him. Piers ran a hand over the symbol on his shoulder, feeling the raised bumps where it was etched into him merely days after his birth. To think that lines and dots in his skin were the reason witches from the Outside devoted their lives to possibly live longer…

The witch snapped his muddy fingers, along with snapping Piers out of his thoughts, and pointed to the wooden floor, directing Piers to lay there so they could begin experimenting with the hex. The Lemurian laid down on the floor and exposed his back shoulder to the witch of Venus. The witch dumped his books near Piers's head and began to leaf through pages of them to find what he needed.

The books were the only part of the cabin that didn't smell like the forest and mud, instead they smelled like oceans and fire and dark secrets. While they were not books of fiction, each held stories beyond their words about where they were from.

"Where did you get all of those from?" Piers asked hesitantly, all but ready for the burning magic of the witch that would follow from such an invasive question.

"Nowhere you would travel to," the witch answered, effectively telling the traveler to mind his own business. "Now, let's get started on that hex." He placed a hand on the symbol, which he must have washed while Piers was out considering it was covered in less dirt than before, and turned his attention to a large open book near him.

The Guardian began speaking in what Piers recognized as an old Lemurian dialect, one that fell out of use a few centuries before he was born, and he could tell that the young man had mediocre at best pronunciation. He fumbled over simple syllables and had to pause every now and then over the long passage to make sure he was reading it correctly. Once he finished the chant, which very nearly became physically painful for Piers to listen to, the witch traced a few of the lines on the symbol with a finger and sprinkled some powder on it. He waited a few seconds, looking for a sign that anything had happened, then looked back to his book to see what he had done wrong. The nameless witch cursed at himself, scooped up another open book near him, and headed towards his shelves of ingredients.

While the Guardian searched for his missing ingredients, Piers looked over at the book with the Lemurian passage to read what the witch read. It had fanciful language and a lot of unnecessary flair, but from what Piers could understand it was about lifting curses. Seemed like the Lemurians really did believe in magic.

The witch came back with a few more containers just as Piers turned away from the old book and sat back down to try again. He sighed loudly and put his hand back on the symbol, but this time sprinkling the powder on before he began the chanting. It fell onto Piers's skin that wasn't covered by the hand and dusted up into clouds, and the witch took this as his signal to begin.

Once again he stumbled over words and fell clumsily before long phrases, causing Piers to drown out the old words with his own thoughts. How long would this take, the whole hex thing? When would he have to take the witch to Lemuria? Would Piers get to stay there once the witch got what he wanted? And then there was the entire question of if he would be welcomed back home at all.

A sharp pain shot through his back once he finished that thought, and the witch jerked his hand back and glared at his book. The painkiller substitute was strong, no doubt, but not strong enough because the pain that started on Piers's mark traveled down to the large wounds still healing on the rest of his back. He bit his bottom lip until the pain became more bearable and told himself that this was a painful process and he should be grateful that he had anything to make the pain less intense. He couldn't even think to imagine how bad it would have been if he hadn't had any of the witch's drink.

A few more tries using similar methods to the witch's second attempt at the spell got Piers nearly used to the pain, at least until the Venus Guardian changed it up again. From how he changed his procedures on the symbol, it seemed like he thought that the more pain Piers was in the closer he was to figuring it out, and the poor Lemurian couldn't protest this because that witch was definitely capable of making Piers feel even worse than he did.

A few hours went by that were filled with attempts on the hex, and it wasn't until the young witch got fed up with trying that he stood up to put his supplies away. He fumed beneath his wood mask and deerskin cloak, and Piers was afraid that he might actually set on fire, despite his practice being earth based. Instead of catching aflame, the witch grabbed a spear from the corner of the room and lumbered towards the man on his floor, the slices in his mask glowing with angry intensity. Turning over onto his back and remaining cautious about his wounds, Piers's eyes widened and he tried to make himself smaller against the wood. What was the witch doing?

"This is getting nowhere," the Venus Guardian's deep voice grumbled as he got closer, "And I'm just wasting resources on you."

The Lemurian felt his heart in both his stomach and his throat, and his limbs refused to move. The only thing he could do was screw his eyes shut and wait.

"Here. Take this."

A few moments of not feeling a spear in his stomach made Piers slowly open his eyes to see the witch holding the spear out to him. Realizing how stupid he was to think the witch was going to kill him, Piers grabbed the spear from his host and stood.

The witch just scoffed and said, "Did you really think I was going to hurt you? I'm angry, but not impulsive. I still need you."

"Uh," Piers let out the breath he thought was his last, "What do you want me to do with this?"

"Go out and get some food. I'm running low now that you're here and I'm sure you're able to do that much for me now," The Guardian snatched what Piers used as a sweater off the floor and handed it to the sailor. "There should be rabbits out there. Kill as many as you can before dark and bring them back as nicely as you can. I want to use those pelts. Don't wander out too far, and make sure you-"

And the door rattled, cutting him off. Both of their heads snapped towards it, and Piers noticed the witch pull something sharp from beneath his deerskin. The witch stepped carefully towards the door, engrossed fully in what was behind it and brandishing whatever was in his hand.

And from beyond the door, "Hello?"


	3. Chapter 3

He advanced slowly towards his door, just feet away from what was on the other side. The witch held a knife in one of his dirt-caked hands and made himself seem larger, and Piers watched him tensely. From the slices in his mask, the witch's yellow magic bled and cut through the dim light inside the cabin.

From beyond the door came a question, someone asking if anyone was there in the form of a simple "hello", and the witch just got bigger. Piers couldn't tell if that was his magic or if he naturally made himself small so that in those situations he could grow to his full size, but the man of Venus had made himself more intimidating and more terrifying in those few moments than he already had been to Piers in the few days that they had known each other. He watched nervously as a large, empty hand reached for the doorknob and turned it slowly.

The wood of the door scraped along the similar wood floor of the cabin, and sunlight snaked its way inside as it was revealed who was outside the door. Standing in the slowly decreasing sunlight was a young woman, large and draped in a long red cape, and behind her was an old man and a younger girl, both looking tired and ready to drop. The woman had gentle physical features, yet held herself with the power of a god and it stayed consistent from her worn boots to the ponytail tied high on her head.

The Venus Guardian was huge, filling as much space that his cabin still allowed, and he stared back at the woman defiantly through his mask, like he was asking her why she dared to come close to his territory in his forest. How dare she, some ignorant girl and her companions, defile his land with their presence and be stupid enough to confront him?

But then he wasn't. He shrank back down to his regular size and then even smaller than that. His once pressed back shoulders crept up to his ears and the knife in his hand fell and clattered against the wood below. From where Piers stood he could tell that the witch was starting to tremble and looked less like a strong force and more like a terrified deer.

The woman still stared back at the witch, watching him transform before her. The old man watched with her, but Piers felt the young girl burning him with her eyes. His vision flickered over to her for just a moment, and she was locked onto him like the wolf that put him in the witch's cabin in the first place. Despite her size and how harmless she looked, that young girl had the sense of being much older and smarter than Piers would ever be, and he read that inside her stare.

Once he read this in the girl's eyes, Piers shivered and looked back to the witch, who was reaching his hands to his chin, cupping the air beneath it. The ribbons behind his head that kept his mask on untied themselves and the slab of carved wood fell into his hands, revealing his face. From where Piers was, all he could see was the side of his face, the witch's long hair covering most of it, but what he could see was that the witch was very, very young, much like the lady in front of him. The soft curve of his cheek told Piers that this all powerful being that had to take care of him was truly just a young man, nothing more than a child in Piers's time.

The young woman's strong face morphed into one of confusion and disbelief, and her eyes flew to every feature on the face she saw in front of her. Realization slapped her on the cheek, and her eyes began to well up. Very gently, like she was speaking to a newborn child, she asked, "Felix?"

This one name ripped the breath the witch had been holding from his chest, and he fell forward to be caught in the woman's arms, hugging her tightly. He shook furiously and clutched her clothing, then ran a hand over her red hair, absorbing all of her features in to process them one by one. Piers could do nothing but watch the two cry into each other's arms, shaking and laughing in melancholic tones.

They finally pulled away, and both smiled warmly. It was an obvious reunion, and even though Piers was more than just unfamiliar with greetings from the Outside, he could tell those two had a long, painful history between them.

The witch, who could now be assumed to be called Felix, swallowed and breathed, "It's so good to see you, Jenna. I thought they took you," The witch shook his head slightly with his words, cleared his throat, then said louder, "You can come in. I can make you all some tea and we can- we can talk."

As the three visitors came in, Felix moved out of the doorway and faced Piers, showing his full face. His cheeks were blotchy and red, and his eyes were swollen from crying which made him look even younger than he already was. He had a long nose and gentle brown eyes and a thin mouth that was stretched into an awkward smile, trying to hide the obvious fact that he had come emotionally undone. Felix looked so young, so much like a child in that moment, that Piers had almost forgotten that that same person had kept him in his home for days and forced him into a deal he had to accept.

Felix rushed himself to the fireplace as quickly as he could and found himself the pot he used to heat water and one of the jugs he kept his water supply in. He hung the pot over the nearly dead fire and turned to Piers, finally acknowledging him after the arrival of his guests.

The young Guardian made a sort of grunting noise in Piers's direction and said, "Wood," overpronouncing the word like he expected Piers to read his lips. He then pointed towards to door to indicate that he wanted Piers to go outside and get the firewood out back.

Piers headed towards the door and heard Felix say to his guests in a voice much softer than any he used on Piers, "We need to go get some wood for the fire, we'll be right back," Then one of them made a sound like they wanted to help, but he had said that it was okay and they needed to rest, considering that they must have walked a long way.

Piers rounded the corner of the cabin to see the witch's small garden full of herbs and vegetables that should have been out of season and the pile of chopped firewood. Firewood that Piers had to chop once his body was in a condition that didn't require him to stay on the floor wrapped in dirty bandages. The witch followed him, and Piers turned to look him right in his eyes. Up close, Piers could see each feature on Felix's face, from the way his chin pulled the rest of his face downward to the craters beneath his dark eyes.

"Okay," Felix sighed, folding his arms over his chest, "That was unexpected." His eyes were still red from the crying.

"Who were they?" Piers dared to ask.

"The redhead is my sister, believe it or not. Haven't seen her in years, and we didn't leave it on a very pleasant note."

"Oh… So you don't like her or-"

"No," the witch interrupted. "The opposite. Love her to death. However, those people she's with aren't the same case."

The anxiety in Piers flowed down to his hands, and they started playing with the edge of his shirt. "Are they dangerous?" Or were they people from Madra, hired to take him back and jail him again?

Felix lifted his eyebrows and took a long breath in, then out with an, "I don't know. I swear I recognize the old man from somewhere but the girl is new to me."

The girl, the one with the big eyes and short hair and looked at Piers like she was stealing every secret hidden in him. She knew too much about the world, this Piers could tell with no more than a glance her way.

"So, for safety," Felix said, reaching into his deerskin robes and pulling out a stick of charcoal, "I'm going to have to hide you." He pushed some of Piers's blue hair back to expose the skin behind his ear, where he drew a symbol with the stick. Piers felt that side of his head tingle, then fade back to the dull ache he had been used to.

"What was that?"

Felix answered with a question of his own, "Can you understand me?"

An odd question, but Piers replied with "Of course. Why?"

Felix backed up against the cabin wall, pocketed the charcoal, and explained, "I can't have you giving yourself away, so that spell is so that you can understand me when I speak in this language," He was still rusty with it, but fluent enough. "My sister and that girl she has are witches, and if they find out who you are they might take you. They'll kill you or sell you to someone else who needs you, I'm sure."

"But she's your sister, wouldn't she understand?" Piers felt himself getting frantic, suddenly trapped and surrounded by witches, all with their own dark intentions.

Felix took a blank-faced second, then answered, "She's not the kind of person to… agree with what I'm doing. So, instead of telling her anything and everything, you're going to be my apprentice from the far north. I'm speaking what they speak up there because you're not going to understand a word of any other language. I'll have to translate everything to you, and when you speak to me you will let no one read your lips and only let yourself be heard by me. It's for your own good."

Piers nodded, telling himself that it's only for the best and it's all the protection the witch can provide for him. Felix then told him to get some wood so they could go back inside.

When they returned, Jenna and her companions had been sitting on the floor near the fireplace, talking. Piers caught the end of a sentence, something about a boat, before all three of them turned to look at him and Felix.

"So," the red headed woman spoke. "What's with all of those notes at your desk over there?" She pointed a long finger towards Felix's cluttered table, and Piers could swear he saw the cabin owner force his shoulders down.

Felix stepped around his sister and her friends and beckoned Piers over to the fireplace to deposit the logs, then turned to face her again. "I'm studying that 'lost city', the one people call Lemuria. I'm planning on sailing out there and proving every witch wrong about its existence. They're wasting talent on a dream that isn't and won't be real."

Jenna's eyebrows lifted themselves further up her forehead, and her red eyes got wide. "Oh?" she asked. "I wasn't aware that you got so cynical after you left home."

"Not cynical, Jenna. Realistic." Felix responded. "And I never left home, I was taken. Thought you'd remember that." Piers remembered that Felix said he loved his sister to death, but the hostile tone didn't mention that at all.

Despite his seemingly biting words, Jenna smiled to herself and shook her head, then said, "You've changed so much, and yet not at all, Felix."

Still crouched by the fire, Piers watched the Venus witch make his way to the cabinets in his small kitchen, where he soon followed. At least, he tried to follow before Felix's sister spoke up again.

"And who are you?" she asked towards Piers, stopped in his tracks wide-eyed. The now shy, monolingual apprentice looked over to his teacher urgently, asking with his eyes to somehow make him disappear and be forgotten.

Felix, however, had proved he was prepared for this situation and handled the question easily, dismissing him with an, "Oh, he's an apprentice of mine. Found him wandering by the cliffs a few months ago and he couldn't speak a word of Osenian. Turns out he's from far up north, where the ice people live."

"Apprentice? Just a few years ago you could barely move logs, have you finally started studying?" She got playful in her words and got comfortable with the cabin and its inhabitants.

Felix let out a breathy laugh and said, "Actually, I'm a Guardian now. The most powerful Venus witch in all of Weyard." He basked in the little glory his statement gave him for a moment, then opened a cupboard to get teacups for everyone. Piers had asked Felix about this title the day before, early in the morning when his tiredness overpowered his fear, and the witch told him it was a title granted to a witch with the greatest power in their respective element. Felix had done nothing but studied Venus magic solely for that name, and he said that there were three other guardians in the world, one for Mars, Jupiter, and Mercury, all of which who no doubt did the same to attain their title.

Jenna, the old man, and even the girl were taken aback by that, impressed with the young man's seemingly incredible feat. Jenna beamed and said, "I knew if you put yourself to it you'd be good at magic."

Felix smiled to himself and retrieved the steaming pot from the fire, not even acknowledging the fact that the pot itself was hot and should have burned him, and poured water into the five herb-filled teacups he had placed on the small counter underneath the cabinet they were in before.

In the silence of the cabin, Piers crept the rest of his way towards his host. Careful not to show his mouth, Piers leaned in and whispered anxiously, "Why did you mention Lemuria? They'll find out you're trying to get there through me!"

Felix just looked at Piers with the same neutral expression he was forcing onto himself and explained in that northern language of his, "She's a witch, she'll know what I'm studying based on those symbols. Luckily, I didn't leave my notes on you out, so as far as she's concerned all I know is the general area it's in. Stop worrying, as long as you don't blow your cover you're just going to be some stupid ice boy and they won't think of you as anything else."

Silence followed those words, and Piers spent those moments trying to stop himself from shaking so much, and Felix let the tea finish steeping. His three guests sat quietly by the fire, unknowingly breathing in sync with Felix, and Piers knew he was out of the rhythm. He didn't belong, not in a room full of witches.

Felix picked up two cups, handed one to his uneasy guest, and let the other three float their way to his sister and her companions. He walked over to where they were sitting and lowered himself next to his sister, crossing his legs and holding his cup with both hands above his lap. Piers stood by the counter, unwelcome in their circle and awkward no matter where he went in the house.

Felix breathed in and said to his sister, "So how did you get all the way out here?"

The atmosphere of the room changed drastically then, and all three of the guests looked at each other, unsure how to answer, when Jenna said, "Apparently there are… people who believe this world is in danger," she was careful with her words. "They believe that magic itself is not able to reach its full potential and if it stays the way it is now, all of Weyard is doomed."

Felix furrowed his brows, tilted his head slightly, and asked, "Doomed? You know about Gaia Falls?"

She paused and looked him in the eyes. "I- I've never seen them but yes, that's what I'm talking about. How do you know about that?" Jenna was taken aback by Felix's knowledge, and Piers finally found something about the Outside that wasn't totally lost on him. He knew of this place, this Gaia Falls, consuming the world from the outside in, told to him by elders from Lemuria.

Felix sighed and looked down into his tea, lowering his voice to almost a whisper, "They did come back, didn't they?"

"Who?" Jenna asked.

The Venus Guardian, visibly uncomfortable, looked back up to his sister and pushed, "You met the dragon people too, didn't you? Is that how you know?"

Jenna, the old man, and the girl looked at each other with wide eyes. "How do you… how do you know them?" She went quiet, leaning in towards her brother. "What happened to you after the storm?"

Felix looked back down and grabbed his sister's hand, squeezed it like he was making sure she was still real, and explained everything. "When the storm came through, you saw me fall into the river and drown, along with our parents. No one in all of Vale could save us. Instead, the dragon people did. Two of them, a pair named Saturos and Menardi, saved all three of us at the bank of the river, but instead of returning us to you they took us to their town, a nearly iced over place called Prox. Did they ever… take you there?"

The old man spoke in place for Jenna then, saying, "Yes, they took us there first. We saw how much their people suffered, and how they need to break this… seal on magic or else they and later the whole world will die. They told us that they needed all three of us to help break it."

"And you agreed to?"

"There was no need to, they had kidnapped us just over a year ago when they returned to Vale to get into the Sanctum."

"How do you know about the Sanctum? All three of you were there when it happened?" Felix's grip on Jenna's hand didn't soften, if anything it had gotten tighter. Piers shifted between his feet and pretended that he wasn't hearing a word of their stories.

Jenna spoke back up, still quiet, "He was Isaac's teacher, remember? And Sheba," she pointed towards the girl, "was kidnapped before us. They took her from her home, all because they needed a Jupiter witch to open the lighthouse."

He took a second to process the information, then asked, "They're getting into the lighthouses now? They always talked about it but I never thought they would actually do it."

"They took us to Mercury just a few months after they stole the stars from the Sanctum. There's a man they have, a Mercury witch with blue hair named Alex-"

"They stole the stars?" Felix interrupted. "How?"

Jenna pulled back from Felix, who was getting aggressive. "I-it was Isaac. He gave them the stars."

"How unlike him. He wouldn't do it if his life was on the line."

"That was the thing, he would've died if he hadn't done it. If the Sanctum wouldn't crush him before he got out then they would've killed him themselves. Now he's out trying to kill everyone who wants to light the lighthouses."

Felix scoffed, "With what training? All he knows is how to read a spellbook, I'm sure he's gotten no where in that quest of his."

"Actually, he killed Saturos and Menardi with the help of a few friends," Jenna said. "Threw 'em off the the top of Venus after a long fight, but not until after we lit it."

Felix raised his brows, then took a deep breath in. "Looks like we'll need to stop him if we're going to light those lighthouses then."

"You're joining us?" The old man asked.

"If it means after this I'm even better at magic, then by all means I'll do it."

Jenna lit up, "That's incredible! We'll have a Guardian on our side, and we'll save Weyard!"

"Well," said the old man in a much more hopeful tone, "I guess we'll have to figure out a plan from here."


	4. Chapter 4

The rest of the night had been spent coming up with a plan to get to the next lighthouse. With this seemingly terrible Isaac willing to cut down anyone who stood against him, there was hardly any time to spare between then and making it to the last two houses. However, making it to them required a boat to sail across the sea with, and neither Jenna or Felix could provide one. Instead, they devised a plan that could get them a working boat, since most of them were destroyed in the natural disasters following the lighting of the Venus Lighthouse.

"We could always cross the cliffs and find a coastal town. They might have boats there." Jenna said tiredly, letting the fire that lit the inside of the cabin show off the deep impressions under her eyes. She, Felix, and Kraden had been talking for hours about what they could do to get off the continent and make way towards their next destination and had nothing to show for it.

"Those towns are all little, no one would have more than a fishing boat," Felix pointed out. "Besides, even if we were to find a suitable boat, there's no way for us to pay for it. I doubt you have enough money on you and I'm almost never paid in any actual currency."

Jenna sighed and let out a discouraged agreement, then, "What about you, Sheba? Know anywhere we can find a boat?"

Sheba, the small blonde girl, had been staring off past the wooden walls and through the forest, and snapped herself back into the cabin to offer her knowledge. "There was a woman back in Madra," her voice was small and high. "Said there's a town north of here that has a sailing ship."

That news brightened up the room instantly, and Jenna asked her why she didn't say something earlier. Sheba answered by telling her that in order to get to the town they would have to cross a desert, and there was also the possibility that the ship was damaged from the recent tidal wave, and Jenna sank back down into her hips dejectedly.

Looking back up to Felix, Jenna asked, "You're apprentice, he's from the north, right? Doesn't he know Mercury magic?" It took ounces of strength Piers forced himself to have to not react to a statement he shouldn't have understood.

"No, he doesn't even know how to use move spells. If we go through that desert we're going to have to face the heat head on." Felix said.

"Even if we make it through the desert, there's still the question of how we're going to pay for the boat." Kraden noted.

"It keeps coming back to money." groaned Felix, but despite the setback a grin still grew on Jenna's face. Noticing this, Felix turned to her with, "What're you smiling for?"

"Felix," Jenna started. "You get paid all the time for things you do. I bet half — no, more than half — of the stuff in here is payment for something you've done for someone. Why not offer your services to the mayor?"

That made Felix's eyes widen and his jaw drop before his mouth split into a smile. "You're right! I could… make his crops grow faster or his cattle healthier! You're a genius!"

As the Guardian was filled with joy, Piers watched with great interest. In the few days he had known him, Felix showed a limited range of emotions, and those that he did show tended to be negative and almost entirely directed towards Piers. Yet there he was, excited and happy. Earlier he had even cried because he was so overcome with emotion. The brief moment he had stopped feeling was when he spoke to Piers when things were focused on keeping him alive, and Felix seemed nearly bored with that subject. Piers had been the one thing that could lead Felix to Lemuria and fulfill his lifelong goal, and he had never been shown that he was anything of worth to the witch.

Piers dwelled on that while talk of getting a sailing ship continued, all the way up until there had been a solid plan formed. They would begin their journey the next morning and, if all went well, within the next few days they would be sailing towards the next Elemental Lighthouse. Felix settled sleeping arrangements, which, to Piers's dismay, featured him having to give up his spot near the fire to their guests and instead he would have to sleep closer to the witch's bed, which was nothing more than an old frame and a dirty mattress overflowing with quilts. Everyone settled themselves into their beds and Piers continued his nightly battle against the shadows on the wall and his unwavering fears.

The next morning began before the sun had risen, and Piers was little more than half awake by the time they left the cabin. He carried a large bag of books provided by Felix and a walking stick if his legs didn't want to support him the whole trip. Felix himself still donned his wooden mask and deerskin cloak and had his long hair tied into a high ponytail just like his sister's. He wore leather gloves and boots that went up to his knees that clacked loudly against the wood floor of the cabin. He look a big breath of air once he stepped outside, and that set off the team to their next destination.

They made it to the desert in just half a day, but the way through was almost two days' worth of nonstop walking. The contrast of the cold down south to the sweltering heat just further north nearly offended Piers, but Felix still refused to take off his deerskin and barely drank any water. Piers suspected that it was the powerful magic that kept Felix in such good shape, since he helped in fighting any monsters that appeared in the desert and didn't seem to be in any pain.

Felix continued to push his body further by offering to take the first watch once they settled camp. Jenna protested, as she could prove that arguing about anything was her best skill, and she was able to get her brother to rest. Felix took a place next to Piers around the campfire and tucked his head into his cloak until Jenna woke him up for his shift.

The next morning had Piers waking up to cooked lizard and the bitter taste of sand in his mouth that refused to be washed out. The nomadic feeling he had when he first started traveling had come back and settled into him for most of the day, until the party had encountered another group of lost travelers. They were much larger, but appeared to have been arguing about where to go.

Felix made an attempt to step forward to greet them, but Piers's hands, sweaty from heat and fear, grabbed at the worn ends of the witch's deerskin. Felix turned his mask with blackened eyes to Piers and asked in Piers's new language, "What's wrong? Do you know them?"

"Those," Piers said before he realized he was about to blow his cover and then placed a hand out to the side of his mouth and lowered his voice, "Those people are from Madra! They'll recognize me and kill me!"

The Guardian thought for a moment, took his stick of charcoal out of his pocket, and pulled the collar of Piers's white shirt down.

"Woah! What's happening?" Jenna exclaimed. "What's the spell for?"

"Those folks over there are from Madra. Poor guy here got in trouble with them a few months ago, and it didn't really end well. I'm just going to use a quick glamour spell on him so that they don't recognize him." Felix said, already halfway through writing the sigil on Piers's chest.

Jenna laughed once and said, "It's quite like Madrans to hold grudges. If it's not too much work for you then go ahead."

Then, Piers's long blue hair turned black and short. His face thinned along with his body, and he got much shorter. Felix looked at him, or rather what he had done with him, with admiration until Jenna mentioned that he looked like he had come from Vale, and underneath his mask his smile faltered. Felix turned and shouted to the party just ahead, and from there they found the correct path out of the desert. The Madrans and their mayor, unsuspecting of Piers, went further along than Felix and Jenna's team, who decided to spend the rest of the night in the desert and finish the walk the next day.

Early the next morning they finally made it to the town of Alhafra, where most of the buildings had been broken down and the streets flooded. Luckily the inn hadn't suffered much structural damage, but many of the town's residents were there for shelter while their homes were fixed. Jenna managed to secure a room on the bottom floor, but all five of them would have to fit there until they bought a ship. She suggested they go out to the local shops to escape the crampedness, and Felix told Piers to stay behind and read some of the books he packed for him.

While they were out, Piers pretended to read the magic journals that he had. Sure, he could speak some of the languages from the Outside, but reading was completely different to him. The only languages besides his own that he had any real grasp on was what was spoken in Osenia and the language the Venus witch's magic made him learn. So, he spent the hours he could've spent reading resting his back against the wall and just thinking about the past week.

Just as he was thinking about how Felix could possibly decipher the magic in the marking on his back, someone knocked on his door to tell him it was lunchtime. As he got to his feet his familiar blue hair brushed in front of his eyes, reminding him that all magic wore off eventually. _Hopefully,_ he thought, _my stay with this witch will be just as finite._

The witches returned about an hour before the sun set, carrying less gold but more equipment. Felix told Piers they were meeting with the mayor to discuss purchasing the boat, but they would have leave Sheba behind since she was so young. Piers thought about making a joke about how everyone was young to him, but he bit it back and nodded instead. Just more time to pretend to read and think.

Felix, Jenna, and Kraden talked about what they would do after getting the ship, including what they would do if they ran into Isaac, until they had to meet with the mayor. Felix decided to leave his mask behind, as per his sister's request, and the three of them headed out.

The silence that followed after their departure nearly suffocated Piers, and no amount of trying to understand a language he didn't know could keep him from thinking about the girl stuck in the room with him. Sheba had been writing things down in a journal of her own, no doubt studying spells.

 _Calm down_ , Piers told himself. _She's a child, she can't harm you._

Sheba shifted in her place on top of the bed.

 _But her eyes. She wouldn't stop staring at you when she first saw you. She knows something you don't. Something maybe you don't want to know. What if she-_

Piers couldn't finish that thought, for all of the air in his lungs had been pushed out and there was no way he could breathe in. He clawed at his chest, gasping for air that wasn't available to him, and out of the corner of his eye he saw the small girl coming towards him. She got off the bed and knelt in front of Piers, nothing but malice in her eyes.

"Who are you," She said with a much lower voice than she had used in the past few days. "And where do you really come from? I can read your mind, so don't try to lie to me."

Witches could read minds!? What did she already know, what information had he given her? Why did she want to know?

She grabbed the front of Piers's hair and slammed the back of his head against the wall, demanding he just think it to her and then he could breathe. Poor Piers could only think about how he was going to die and if it wasn't now then it would surely be when Jenna returned.

The edges of Piers's vision started to fade, and he hadn't noticed Sheba had a small knife in her hand until she got impatient and held it right in front of his face.

"See this? I don't think you want this. You're gonna die a lot slower than you want to if you don't give me some answers right now."

Reflecting back on this moment, Piers would thank every god he had ever prayed to for what he did. Acting on instinct alone, he was able to grab Sheba's arm and kick her in the chest with the strength he still had. The shock made her lose her control over the air around Piers, and after he pried the knife out her hand he took the sweetest breath of air he had taken in his entire life.

She shouted what sounded like a war cry and lunged for him, but he was fast enough to sweep the knife up just as she reached him. She screamed and recoiled with her hands to her face, rolling on her back and kicking the air.

Piers, breath shallow and adrenaline still pumping through him, delivered a hard punch to her head and knocked her out. Her hands moved to show a long gash that started on the left side of her mouth and arced upward to end just below her right eye. He left her to bleed, and he tore a page out of her journal. On it he wrote a note to Felix to tell him that he had been attacked and had run off. Whether Felix wanted to follow or not was his choice.

He stuffed the note under the Guardian's mask, took a last look at the bleeding Sheba, and escaped through the open window. Unlike his first time running from harm, he couldn't go as far as he did before. He never figured out if it was his body or his mind that stopped him first.

He finally collapsed at the base of a tree outside of town, and sobs began to escape him. He let himself cry, hoping to cleanse himself of the fear and hatred he let build up ever since he left home. Piers hated the Outside. He hated its people, its monsters, its weather. Most of all, he hated its witches and their pitiful excuse for humanity. All he wanted was to be safe. All he wanted was to be home.


	5. Chapter 5

Piers woke up disoriented and unsure of everything but his name. It was still dark and he was still at the tree, but he wasn't as cold as he was before. Even when he was running he was freezing, and stopping at a tree was even worse for his body heat. The warm hands he found resting on his shoulders gave the answer to his body's temperature.

Piers looked up to see Felix's face, nearly unfamiliar from being twisted with worry, which faded once they made eye contact. Felix let his hands drop, and he sighed into his coat.

"I saw what you did back there." He shifted in his place among the roots of the tree. The warmth was still there, everywhere but the ice that formed in the Lemurian's stomach. He swallowed hard and looked down. Felix probably thought he was horrible for doing what he did.

Piers opened his mouth to defend himself when Felix cut him off, "Sorry for leaving you with her. I was stupid for thinking she couldn't read minds." His brow was creased and his voice low. "But you're still alive."

Excuse him, sorry? Piers didn't know what exactly to feel, but to believe he, the witch who effectively kidnapped him, was sorry? Anger rose like bile in Piers's throat, but all it felt like was that he was about to cry.

"What did you do when you got back?" He asked instead, refusing to cry in front of Felix.

Felix raised his eyebrows and looked down at Piers's hands, which had tangled themselves into the bottom of his shirt. He said, "She was bleeding a lot when I got back. Unconscious on the floor, too. That gash on her face, was that you?"

Piers nodded slowly.

"Gonna leave a nasty scar then," the witch chuckled. He noticed Piers getting more upset at that, so he moved on, "I healed her up a bit, just enough so she wouldn't bleed out, and I saw your note under my mask."

"And what about the other two? Your sister and the other man?"

"They decided to stay the night at the mayor's house. Drank a little too much and spent more time chatting instead of negotiating a purchase of the boat. And now that we've essentially parted ways with them, they have no means of transportation to the next lighthouse."

A silent moment passed, and then Piers questioned, "Where does that leave us?"

"Well," said Felix, getting up to his feet. "We're going to have to go back to my cabin. You tore some of your worst wounds back open from running so hard, and there's only so much I can do here without my supplies. That, and I'll need to place a hex over my house so that if and when Jenna tries to go back there, she can't get in." He reached a hand out to Piers, who was still pressed firmly into the base of the tree.

Piers looked at the hand, and they were the cleanest they had been since they met. The fingers were long and skinny and the nails uneven and cracked. He took a second, staring, before he grabbed it and hoisted himself up. Felix was right, running had erased nearly all of the magic that had been used to heal him, and he stumbled a bit before regaining balance. He would have crumpled to the ground on his first step had Felix not been there to catch him.

And from there, they began their journey back home. Felix didn't want to risk anything on the way back, so they took a shortcut through the eastern entrance of the desert and traveled out south from there. In his haste out the inn, Piers forgot the walking stick he brought with him and limped for a long while until he found a branch strong enough to hold himself. They spent a lot of the journey in silence, save for the few encounters with monsters.

They set up camp once the sun set and Felix set the dead rats he had gathered along their walk over the fire. As they roasted, he tended to Piers, patching him up the best he could. Most of what he could do was use spells he remembered, and even that didn't do a whole lot.

Unfortunately for Felix, Venus healing magic could sometimes leave a person in a nearly intoxicated state. Fortunately for Piers, he became bold and used it to break the uncomfortable silence between them.

"So, how'd you end up being a witch?" Piers asked, not fearing a stinging touch of magic that Felix might send his way.

Felix scoffed and said, "Why do you want to know?"

"Well, since I'm going be around you so long, I might as well get to know something about you."

"That's going to cost you."

Piers sat up a bit straighter. "Do you do everything in deals?"

"Not everything," Felix turned over his half-eaten rat and stared at it. "But stories are personal. I don't just go around telling everyone about myself."

"Well I think at this point I don't really count as "everyone", what with the whole living with you arrangement."

Felix's next words caught in his throat, and then he sighed, "Alright, but I'll need something of equal value from you."

Piers rested his chin on an open palm. "Equal value, huh? What if I tell you my story?"

"Like I don't know all you have to offer already. You were born and raised in an ancient city that forbids visitors. You ventured out and got jailed. You ran, almost got killed, and I took you in," He spread his hands out in front of him, "There."

Undeterred, Piers grinned and said, "But you don't know how I almost got killed by the sea god that guards Lemuria."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes, I was dared by a close friend of mine to see who could skip rocks on the water the farthest. Too bad I'm not particularly skilled at that, after the first few rocks the angry old Poseidon rose from the sea and demanded to know who was disturbing his slumber. Poor me," Piers laughed. "All weak-kneed and wordless before the great sea god. And do you know what I said to him?"

"What?"

"'I just wanted to see how you were doing.'" Piers said in a high-pitched voice. "He nearly skewered me!"

Felix laughed at that. He threw his head back and his eyes crinkled and he let out a sweet, hiccupy laugh that came from deep inside his chest. His mouth tore open into a big smile and he showed teeth, all human. Piers, all dumbstruck and full of magic, could only sit there with his stupid grin because _he made that calloused witch laugh._ The laugh was most likely the product of finally enjoying real human contact rather than the contents of the story, but Piers would take his victories where he could find them.

"Alright," Felix said, still smiling, "I'll tell you. But you must promise to never repeat this." The witch straightened his back, cracking joints as he did, and his smile settled back down.

"I was fifteen when a great storm hit my hometown. Storms were often and we had reinforced buildings in case it was strong, but this was a storm that no one had ever experienced before. It was as though Mother Mercury herself had thrown all her grief into our town and Venus had joined her in her rage. The river running through town swelled and boulders tumbled down the great mountain we lived near." Piers could have sworn the fire dimmed then, despite Felix's magic being Venus aligned. "I myself had been roused from sleep with the sudden realization that my home that had been next to the river _was_ the river at that point, and all attempts my family made to save me had been in vain.

"I remember," his face went dark then, and the fire cast great shadows behind him that blended with the darkness of the forest. "I saw Jenna screaming down at me. She was frantically trying to find help and could only watch me die." He swallowed hard. "And then a boulder from the mountain came down to render us even more helpless. I don't remember much from then, but I can only imagine what it must have done to my sister to see her entire family die in front of her."

Whatever bubbly feelings there were in Piers's head had greatly subsided. The witch's words were sobering, and the magic could almost make Piers feel like he was there, dying alongside a young Felix. If he could concentrate just hard enough, he could feel the burning lungs and hands that grabbed for safe holds that weren't nearby.

"And after the boulder?" the Lemurian said in a small voice. "How did you survive?"

Felix took a long breath in, then out again like he had decided that what he planned to say wasn't worth it. "I wouldn't say I was saved. It was more like my life had just been… steered in a different direction.

"The Proxians are a race of people who live far up north and who are believed to have been born from dragons. All evidence had pointed to them being a myth, that no man could be born half human and half dragon, yet two of them had found my parents and I at the bank of the river. They took us in by force and kept us in their town up near the ends of the earth. My father was a commendable Venus witch, as was most of my town, but the Proxians deemed him unfit for their "training" and instead called upon me. I went through agonizing torture that was disguised as a way to make me a better fighter and I hadn't even been told why. We travelled out of their town and back into the rest of civilization and had been on the search for a Jupiter witch when I ran away."

"You ran away? From dragons?!"

"I know, I'm just _so_ courageous." Felix smiled for a moment. "I'd been looking over my shoulders up until Jenna had told me the two of them had died.

"But," he continued. "I had nothing for myself but clothes that were too big and a sword I barely knew how to use. I hardly remembered old hunting skills my father taught me when I was younger, and I had no spells except for the few basic ones I could remember. It was by the grace of Gaia that I found the cabin I call my home now. It was entirely abandoned and I spent weeks making it worth living in, but if I hadn't been blessed in that moment I would've died, cold, alone, and forgotten in the forest."

"So the cabin found you, much like you found me. Had neither of us been given shelter we would have perished." Piers said.

Felix chuckled, "I guess so, in a way. Although I don't think my home is skilled in any magic."

The two of them sat in a comfortable silence, the most comfortable they had experienced in their time together. The fire between them was dying out, along with Piers's energy, and he knew he would need the strength to walk the rest of the way to the cabin. He looked across the fire to the man he now lived with, who had situated himself into a proper sleeping position inside his deerskin coat but still had his eyes skyward to stare at the stars above. Warm light from the fire illuminated the soft, almost childlike curve of his face and the gentle look that rest upon it. It was the first time Piers really noticed the witch at peace, and he made sure to remember it well in case he may never see it again.

The intoxication of Felix's magic still grasped Piers, how little there was left of it, and he felt himself unable to keep his eyes open for much longer. He laid himself on the cold grass, pulling close a spare blanket they had brought along at the beginning of the trip, and he looked up at the same stars Felix was looking at. They twinkled above him as he settled into a deep sleep, and for the first time in a long time he slept peacefully, temporarily at ease with the tremendous powers he surrounded himself with.


	6. Chapter 6

The next morning was much kinder to the boys than the previous ones from that trip had been. Piers awoke to the smell of Felix frying up more rats he had hunted and the sun just barely peeking over the mountains. The breeze from the sea nearby reminded Piers of how far they still were from the cabin. Of how far away he was from home.

"Seems someone's awake," Felix said softly.

Without lifting his head, Piers replied, "How long have you been up?"

"Before sunrise."

"Neither of us fell asleep until late last night. Will you have the strength to walk all day?"

"I appreciate the concern, but my body is used to working on little sleep," Felix took the cooked rats off the fire. "I doubt I'd be able to rest for more than a few hours."

Sitting up now, Piers said, "I'm sure there's some potential of yours that you're missing out on by depriving yourself of sleep."

Felix scoffed, "Opportunities are missed by sleeping the days away. I'm sure you wouldn't have been too happy if I had been busy sleeping rather than finding you in the forest."

Piers supposed he had a point there, and he didn't feel like continuing the argument. Still, it wasn't like people could survive without letting their body and mind rest a decent amount. Perhaps if the witch took some time off of his spells and just let himself clear his head…

Breakfast came and went for the two, featuring little of a further conversation. They had gotten familiar with each other from the night before due to Piers's nearly drunken stupor, but there was still a wall between them. Piers was now determined to get even closer, not just because it would ensure his safety, but because he refused to let Felix die without a friend. There was more to Felix than just his magic and tragic past, and Piers wouldn't let loneliness eat at the witch's heart.

The rest of their trip back home was rather uneventful, save for a few monster encounters that Felix dealt with with ease. Piers had never seen so many hostile animals, but he assumed everything was just worse outside of his home island. After all, not only were there violent monsters in the shape of animals, but there were ones in the shape of people. Piers was becoming more familiar with both of those shapes as the days went by.

Upon arriving at Felix's home, the two noticed a basket on the doorstep. It looked as though the plants that it was constructed of had been woven into it not too long ago, and it contained freshly baked bread and a bottle of wine. Piers looked around from where he stood, curious of who might have put it there nearly moments ago, and how someone could've gotten out to Felix's cottage before the bread even cooled down. As he questioned this, Felix sifted through the basket and found a rolled up letter hidden within. Once he untied the thin, golden fabric around the middle of the paper, it unrolled and held itself in midair, beckoning Felix to read what was on it. After a few moments he quietly exclaimed, "Oh!"

"What is it?" Piers asked as he tried to get a view of the letters that he was sure he would be unable to read given that Felix's spell from before had worn off that morning.

"I've been summoned. The residents of Kimbombo are having a ritual to indoctrinate their newest witch doctor, and it seems they've called every witch they could find to come celebrate."

"There are… going to be other witches there?"

"Of course," Felix collected the letter from the air and opened the door, stepping inside to take off his familiar deerskin and boots in mild relief. "Kimbombo is an amazing village, despite its shortcomings. I have no reason not to go."

Piers followed suit, taking off his own shoes and coat. He stopped once Felix finished his sentence and looked up at him quizzically. "Shortcomings?"

Felix placed the basket on the counter in his tiny kitchen and opened some of his cupboards to take down plates and cups. Without looking back at Piers, he began to explain, "A few hundred years ago, Kimbombo was a vast city with thousands of civilians living within its walls. They had some of the best technological advancements in all of Weyard, and it was all thanks to their magic. Their mastery was unparalleled. Nearly every Venus or Mars guardian came from there.

"However," he continued, cutting the fresh bread into thick, hearty slices. "Some foreign king came along and took over the entire area. He got rid of all of their advancements and taught a new form of magic. This magic was weaker in every aspect, and eventually it spread throughout most of Weyard once he left to conquer more cities. It's speculated that he taught this magic in order to keep control, and only those close to him were allowed to use more powerful spells. The people native to the region have been trying to rebuild ever since, even though most of their knowledge is lost. Although," he handed a plate with a slice of bread over to Piers. "With there being a new witch doctor, there's a possibility that he has new ideas of how he might combine his magic with the technology they currently have. From what I've heard, he's had a lot of promise."

Felix filled the cups with their new bottle of wine and gave one to Piers. He sat down at his cluttered desk and opened one of his numerous books.

Piers took a bite of the bread, which he found was an incredible sourdough recipe, and asked, "So…when are you leaving?"

Felix put down his book momentarily and said, "Well, _we_ should leave in three days if we want to make it there on time. That gives us enough time to finally heal you all the way and to work on the symbol on your shoulder."

The emphasis and insistence with which Felix said "we" echoed in Piers's head. He'd be back in the world of witches again and there wasn't much he could do about it. Felix most likely wouldn't let him stay behind, and even if he did, what would Piers even do? As Felix picked his book back up, Piers ate his bread and sipped his wine, all while wondering how he would survive another encounter with witches.

The next two days actually saw little work on Piers's symbol. He was healed completely, as he hadn't done as much damage to his legs as Felix thought, and the witch had been gracious enough to use his language spell to give Piers the ability to read some of the books strewn around the cabin. Felix spent most of his time winding down out in his garden, where he could relax and use the magic most natural to him. When Piers wasn't inside reading, he would sit outside with the witch and watch plants grow before his eyes. The magic of Venus had a quiet, gentle effect on the world around it and it made itself known in the calm way Felix did his work.

The day they left wasn't nearly as eventful as their previous departure, and it saw much less preparation. Felix gathered all of the supplies they would need for their trip, and they left unceremoniously. Thankfully, Piers was supplied with an old shortsword in case they encountered any monsters that Felix wouldn't be able to defeat on his own.

Piers, now healthy as ever, wasn't as nervous to leave the safety of Felix's cabin. He could joke with the witch and fight on his own, and he started regaining the feeling of independence that he had long before he was ever even jailed by the Madrans. Their few days of travel passed by easily, and Piers almost wished it had never ended. He was genuinely nervous about the ceremony, despite how much he had tried to hide it from Felix.

When they arrived to the ancient city of Kimbombo, past large mountains and many smaller towns, Piers immediately understood its history. In fact, calling Kimbombo a city now was quite a stretch. Nestled between the mountains, most of the homes were centralized to one area, leaving the outside of what was once a great city just miles of empty space. The houses were made of crumbling gray bricks covered in vines, and newer great red pillars seemed to support them. The rocky walls surrounding the city were painted with large murals, however the paint was worn and the shapes were hardly visible. The only real colors within the city itself were that of the pillars, which all seemed to lead towards a large statue backed by a mountain, which faced the city. Piers looked in awe at the statue, with it's still vibrant paint and closed eyes. He didn't take his eyes off of it until Felix led them to the inn they would be staying at.

As they entered the inn, Piers became even more star struck. Every witch he could have possibly imagined was in the main room. It was full of men, women, those who were neither or both, covered head to toe in amazing outfits. Some had strange hair, colored and styled in ways foreign even to Piers, and elaborate makeup that transformed the faces of the wearer. Some were old, some were young, some carried along pets, and all of them were fantastic. The room was filled with chatter and laughter from every source possible, and he was truly breath taken. Felix extended an arm so that Piers could ground himself, and they made their way into the crowd.

Piers knew Felix didn't make it outside very often, but it was surprising to see people recognize him. The two of them stopped often to greet someone, and it felt like Piers was in a maze where he didn't know what was at the end. Not once did one of Felix's acquaintances ask who Piers was, and he truly felt invisible. Whether that was a good or bad thing, he had yet to figure out.

Not long after their arrival, a witch came to Felix and whispered something into his ear and Felix made a noise of understanding. He turned to Piers and said, "Looks like it's my turn. Make some friends while I'm gone." He followed the witch who whispered to him out the inn's doors to go speak with the witch-doctor-to-be.

Piers was unfortunately entirely unsure of how to talk to other witches, given that his only interactions with them were either hostile or just downright nerve wracking. He looked around a bit, but all he could see were bright colors in the forms of other people. At first he ignored it when he heard someone say "hey you with the blue hair" but he couldn't deny hearing it the second time. Looking over, he saw three witches a few paces away smiling at him. They waved him over and he sat down with them.

The witch he sat closest to had rich brown skin and long white hair pulled into a messy bun to contrast it. The mismatched colors they wore were only tied together with their air of confidence and, if he had to guess, Piers would've said that the witch had come from one of the storybooks he used to read as a child. Next to them was a tall woman with skin even darker than the witch before her and short black hair adorned with gorgeous golden clips shaped to look like butterflies. She was beautiful and elegant, although Piers could read into the hint of mischief in her faint smile. Lastly was the tall pale man with deep red hair and a grin a little too big for him. He dressed in simple blacks and whites and looked like he hadn't slept in a century but also as though he had just awoken from the most heavenly nap.

"You look new here," said the woman. Her voice was deep and rich. "And I can tell you're new to magic. Where are you from?"

"Ah, um, I'm from up north. Near the ice?" _You have got this, Piers. Just make friends like he told you to._ "I'm new here, I'm an apprentice." Piers was certainly not confident in his acting, but if he was obviously lying then no on called him out on it.

"Oh, from Imil? I heard their language is entirely different from the ones down here. I'm not even that skilled with what these locals speak, how long have you been learning?" said the white-haired witch.

Should he keep going? Felix never told him what to do in case someone asked about _language_ , how was he supposed to know what to do? He let instinct and fake charisma take over, and before he knew it he was brushing his hair back and showing off the mark he was given. "My master is excellent at his work. He gave me this sigil so that I can understand the common tongue here and also speak it. It's incredibly useful."

All three of the witches had varying degrees of surprise at that. The white haired witch reached a hand out to touch and stopped just above the skin and traced it in the air with their fingers in amazement. The dark woman exclaimed and gave a big smile with it. The tall man gasped "Genius!" at the mark and leaned in for a closer look.

"Who's your master? I haven't seen work like this in a while." said the white haired witch.

"Honestly, that's a difficult spell to pull off, both understanding and speaking a new language. You think I can learn from him too?" laughed the tall man.

Piers blushed lightly from the positive attention. "Well, um, I'm not sure if he'd want any more apprentices, but you could ask him to teach it to you while he's here. He just stepped out to talk with the next witch doctor."

The white haired witch asked, "The one in the big cloak?"

"That's him."

"Hm, I've never seen him around. Who is he?" asked the woman.

Felix also never told him about what to say when someone asked who he was being taught by. Well, they were all witches and they were bound to find out, there would be no harm in telling them. "That's the Guardian of Venus."

Their reaction to that made the reaction to the sigil seem like nothing. All three of them were taken aback by the statement and looked at each other excitedly. They nearly toppled each other with their questions.

"Is he really that young?"

"Did he really only learn in three years?"

"Why does he never go out?"

Piers laughed in response and admitted that they had only known each other for a few weeks. That lead to more questions, and it wasn't long until he had to divert the conversation to ask them about their respective practices. He wouldn't ever admit it, but he was enjoying their company and wished he could give them all the answers they asked for.

The white haired witch was Jupiter aligned and came from a small town to the northeast that specialized in divination, more commonly known as future sight. Although it wasn't much, the sight meant that they could see what lies in one's future, along with what may have happened to them in the past or what was troubling them in their present. Future sight, as the witch put it, was typically seen as a more trivial practice than others due to the imprecise nature of readings, however its popularity had been rising steadily over the years. The witch ended their explanation with an offer of a reading, should Piers ever come across them again.

The woman was from an island in the very far east, and she was skilled with Mercury magic. Her family was of a very high status on that side of the world, and they expected her to take over as the head once she was old enough. However, she left her island in the dead of night before she was given power, and she hadn't looked back since. She explained that she had been travelling along the coasts of one of the northern continents, Angara, when she met with the white-haired witch.

The third one, the tall man, was a Mars witch that hailed from _everywhere_ around the world. He explained that he had travelled all his life, or at least for how long he could remember. His family went from town to town offering aid to all who needed it, giving their magic, food, money, or whatever else they could give to those who did not have it. He continued his family's legacy, striving to only live comfortably, not excessively, until there was not a single person left without the resources to live a good life. He beamed with pride as he spoke, and Piers couldn't help but feel hopeful for the witch and his work.

As it turned out, the three of them had been good friends for a very long time and were known on nearly every continent. They travelled together, offering their services to everyone they met. They vaguely mentioned that there were some people who didn't like what they were doing and that the trio had their own ways of getting around such roadblocks, but there wasn't room for Piers to ask about what they meant. They talked about many of their adventures and people they met, and Piers was astonished that there was so much to experience in what couldn't have been a very long time, considering the short lifespan of everyone outside of Lemuria.

Their chattering ceased suddenly, and all three of them looked past Piers in excitement. Alarmed, he turned around to see Felix walking towards the group with a soft smirk and his chin high. He stopped just behind Piers and gave a gracious nod to the three witches before him. "Are you three getting along well with my apprentice?" he asked.

All three of them choked on their next questions, and Felix helped Piers up from his seat before any of them could respond. "Tomorrow is a big day and we need to rest, so I hope you don't mind me taking him from you so soon. Here's to hoping we all can talk later." The trio, still speechless from excitement, waved lightly to the two of them before Felix and Piers turned to leave to their room.

"Who were those three?" Piers asked as the two of them walked off.

"Confidence, Elegance, and Abundance. They're a bit of an infamous trio who can't say no to a theme. They also can't say no to any kind of social gathering, so it's no surprise to see them here."

"Infamous how? You sound like you don't like them."

"Oh, no, I think they're great. They just tend to get into trouble more often than not thanks to how they… go about some of their objectives. They're quite young too, so I don't hold them to any particularly high standards." Felix and Piers arrived at the door to the room they had been given for the ceremony. "I've heard that they're all quite powerful, but I've never seen them in action. Maybe you can ask them to show you a trick or two."

They entered the room, which had been decorated with gorgeous, vibrant paintings and furniture. There were two large beds draped with thick quilts that had beautiful blue and red geometric shapes sewn into them. It was like the entire ancient city had been taken from the outside and put into their one room. Without taking off his cloak or shoes, Felix fell backwards onto the bed closest to the door with his arms outstretched. He closed his eyes and let a triumphant smile grow on his face.

It was strange to see Felix so open with his emotions, and Piers felt that he couldn't even look at him. He sat down on his own bed and turned his gaze towards his shoes, which he began unlacing. Letting a few more moments pass, he asked, "What's got you so happy?"

His hands now covering his face, Felix said, "The witch doctor said he's impressed with my work and that him and his elders have been watching me ever since they learned of my status as a guardian," Sitting upright and beaming at Piers, he exclaimed, "They say that I have more potential than anyone they've ever seen, and that my skill is unmatched!"

Piers could nearly see the elation rolling off of the young witch, and he couldn't help but feel happy for him. From all of the reactions he heard that night, to the news from Felix himself, there was no denying how powerful Felix really was, or would become in the future. Piers just didn't know if he should be excited for that future, or dread it. After all, Felix's goal was still centered around Lemuria's own magic. Regardless, Piers remained hopeful in front of Felix because he knew it was important to him. They wished each other a good night, and within a few minutes Piers could hear the witch's breathing become steady. There were no opportunities for him to miss that night, or any other justifications for him to lose sleep. All they could do was rest.


End file.
